Shillong, May 04: As the Meghalaya government is preparing for the return of its citizens who are stranded in different parts of the North Eastern States, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said that those who returned must be prepared to stay back till the norms are relaxed in future.
“We would like to give one message to everybody who is coming in that it’s important to know that once they come back to the state, then the chances of them going back to the place where they had been is not there. So, they have to understand that it’s not going to be a to and fro movement,†he told reporters after chairing a review meeting.
“Therefore, we urge those people who are planning to come back into the
state that they must remember that it will be for medium or long term basis. There will not be any provision for people to go back once they come into the state. So, therefore, if they desire to stay then we urge them to stay back in the location where they would like to stay because the provision to go back may not be there,†Sangma said.
The Chief Minister informed that in the first phase, only those held up in the North Eastern States would be allowed to return, while those stranded in other states of the country can come in during the second phase.
“Roughly, as of now we have 2,098 people who have registered with us and out of them 1, 600 are from Assam and the rest are from other North Eastern States but the numbers could go up because registration is still open and we do expect that some people may not be able to register and they would still try to come in,†Sangma said.
Asked how these stranded citizens would be brought back to the State, the Chief Minister said, “There are two possibilities either the government is allowing them to take care of their own transportation if they desire to come and secondly, the government is also preparing along with the concern State governments where such people are stranded it was looking at options of creating transportation for them.â€
“We have got requests from a number of students, and citizens who have been working in different parts of the country outside the North Eastern States that they would also like to come back at their own expenditure. We also understand the difficulties they are facing,†Sangma said.
However, he said that allowing people from one or two locations to come back in the first phase may not be fair to all because the same yardstick would have to be applied to everybody.
“If you allow people to come back from one location outside the North East then we have to allow everybody else whoever wants to come back at their own expenditure. So we are urging and requesting all those students and the workers that we will be very soon allowing them also to come but we would like to finish the phase of North East first and then we will go into the phase for outside the north east,†the Chief Minister said.
Meanwhile, the East Khasi Hills District Administration on Monday held a meeting with the various locality headmen or Rangbah Shnongs to ensure that everybody works in sync in connection with the anticipated return of citizens from outside the state.
Deputy Commissioner East Khasi Hills district, Matsiewdor War Nongbri said that the meeting was held to ensure proper coordination exists while handling the number of stranded people getting back to the state. She said that the district was well equipped and the head of the various committees are also well versed and trained to deal with the COVID-19 situation.
Nongbri informed that the administration has formed the locality level Community COVID Management Committees, comprising health officers, magistrates, Gram Sevaks and headmen.
“These committees will work in tandem with the District Administration and once the stranded people arrived in the State, they would have to follow all safety protocols, including home quarantine, adding that they would be under continuous surveillance,†Nongbri said.
